Musings of a Vintage Junkie: harvest squash soup

Showing posts with label harvest squash soup. Show all posts

Friday, October 11, 2013

A Good Week in October!

I am joining Five On Friday once again, because, actually, it's really fun to wrap up your week in a neat little package, all in one place. If you want to join just click on one of the hostess' names and link up!

The hostess' are Darci, April, Christina and Natasha. Just write 5 things on your mind today and post at the party! Then go read what others have been doing all week on their Five on Friday posts!

1) My Mom Jane and I celebrated her 75th birthday with a yummy Fall lunch and a game of SkipO, which she beat me at! You can get the recipes by clicking on the link.

2) The next day I celebrated my friend Bonnie's birthday at the cutest little café called The Chit Chat Café. Very appropriate for us because we chit chatted for 3 hours over multiple cups of coffee and pumpkin pancakes! The restaurant is owned by a family of all women and all the decorations are handmade crafts that you can buy.

3) Every Wednesday I have my granddaughter Chloe for the day. I signed her and I up for a toddler class at the library that is filled with singing, playing and story time. The "teacher" Sheila does a good job of keeping the kids occupied with a felt board, music, rattles, scarves to play peek-a-boo and a craft to take home. Chloe loves it and is interacting so well with the other children. I am going to brag right now......this past class a little girl wanted to hold Chloe's favorite baby doll. In return the girl let Chloe hold her frog bean bag. Of course Chloe loves "fogs" so it all worked out. At the end they returned each others treasures. So cute!

4) I decided I didn't like the Fall decorating that I did in my dining room so I removed it all and started over! I have had my birdhouse collection on top of my large cupboard for years. It was time to change it up. I like this much better. I can't wait for holiday decorating time because of the huge potential of the top of that cupboard!

5) Today is the day that I get ready to go away, just my husband and I, for a weekend in Naples, New York. What is the occasion? Just that my son is off to a youth group retreat and it is the middle of October....peek time for the color of the leaves in our area. The drive down to the south end of Canandaigua Lake is gorgeous! We will be staying at the Seasons of Life Guesthouse.....

Have a wonderful weekend!

AnnMarie :)

I am linking up with these great parties!

Five on Friday

Monday, October 7, 2013

A Pink Pumpkin and A Fall Lunch

In an earlier post I said how my pink and cranberry parlor does not lend itself to Fall decorating with oranges, rusts and golds.

Well, this past weekend at the Public Market I found a pink pumpkin! Yup, I did not paint this pumpkin! I also picked up two white mini pumpkins.

Now a small corner of my parlor is Fallish!

Every Fall my Mom Jane and I celebrate her birthday with a special lunch. If the weather cooperates, a walk in the park surrounding Canandaigua Lake and maybe a game of Sequence, SkipO, or Rummikub. The plan for this year, her 75th, was to have it at her house because it was a rainy, dreary, dark day. Only the weather was dreary!

A sneak preview of the birthday lunch with recipes to follow. There is Taster's Choice Zucchini bread, the best zucchini bread and only one I make, Harvest Squash Soup and Hot Chicken Salad served in an acorn squash.

For The First Course.....

The soup is a recipe that Mom Jane gave me. It is a thick, hearty soup with fresh butternut squash and apples.....

Harvest Squash Soup

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1 tablespoon cooking oil

4 cups mashed cooked butternut squash (about 1 large)

3 cups chicken broth ( I use the reduced fat kind)

2 cups unsweetened applesauce (homemade is best *)

1 1/2 cups milk

1 bay leaf

1/4 tsp. curry powder

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Saute onion in oil until tender. Add the rest of the ingredients. Simmer for 30 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Tip - all squash is not created equal! Some are sweeter than others. I added more cinnamon, nutmeg and a little sugar to my last batch because the squash was not as sweet.

* to make unsweetened applesauce just cut up 3-4 apples, add a little water and cook down by simmering on the stove. Mash apples and you have unsweetened applesauce!

The main entrée.....

This hot chicken salad served in half an acorn squash is from my most favorite cookbook, Applehood and Motherpie. There is not a bad recipe in the book and this is in the top ten!

Hot Chicken Salad

8 to 10 servings

4 to 5 pounds chicken (4 cups cooked and cubed)

4 cups chopped celery

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 cup grated onion
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 cups mayonnaise
1/4 cup white cooking wine
1 cup sliced, blanched, toasted almonds
1 cup crushed cornflakes
1/2 grated parmesan or romano cheese
Acorn squash, enough for half per person

Bake chicken in 400 degree oven till done. Cut into cubes. Combine chicken with the next 8 ingredients. Allow to stand at least one hour.

(While the oven is hot, bake your acorn squash. Cut an acorn squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Put in a casserole with a little water on the bottom, cover with foil and bake about an hour at 400 degrees).

Spoon the chicken mixture into buttered shallow glass 2 quart casserole. (Refrigerate here to bake later or continue).

Top with crushed cornflakes and cheese. Bake till heated through and lightly browned.
350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes

On the side....Taster's Choice Zucchini Bread

This recipe is from For Goodness Taste, the companion cookbook to Applehood and Motherpie. I posted about it last year and you can find the recipe here.

Mom Jane enjoyed the lunch and we always have a great time together. She beat me in SkipO though.....!